


Here for a reason

by fanyelina



Category: Friends at the Table (Podcast)
Genre: Fanart, Friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-28
Updated: 2019-01-28
Packaged: 2019-10-18 01:29:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 782
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17571722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fanyelina/pseuds/fanyelina
Summary: Hella remembers Hadrian's words, a long time ago in Velas. written & drawn by @angfdz on twitter.





	Here for a reason

**Author's Note:**

  * For [willowthorn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/willowthorn/gifts).



* * *

 

 

At night, Hella would often picture the world as it was. Green and blue, bright, beautiful. Back then she thought and saw less than she did now, so it was of no surprise to her that she could only appreciate that beauty retroactively, in a memory. Next to the end of the world, even Velas could look beautiful. Still...she had missed Ordenna. It wasn't easy to leave her home, to wander tall amongst strange people with different customs, to deal with their constant _looking_. It made her uncomfortable. For the most part, Hella prefered activity. It was through movement, through a variety of adventures, of drunken nights, of close calls, that she was able to forget.

And when she wasn't able to, there was Hadrian. The short, dark, God fearing (or loving?) man held no end of interest to Hella, who somehow found a way around how deeply uncomfortable his beliefs made her. It didn't take the man long to realize that he'd best steer clear of mentioning Samothes too often, because Hella would only respond with a wooden smile and quickly change the subject. It hadn't made the beginnings of their friendship particularly easy. Even so... she found comfort in him. Perhaps it was his God, or the easy way in which he followed his values. Hella didn't consider herself to be someone with a moral compass, but Hadrian was... deeply so. And though she didn't understand him, it eased her to know that someone out there at least sort of seemed to know what they were doing.

So, when the hard winters started coming, and things got progressively "worse" (in a relative way, knowing what she did now), Hella found herself mired in...something. She wasn't the type to put words to feelings, but she could identify that she was uncomfortable. They had had a lucky break, a fools spring, two or three days of sunshine and melted snow. The air wasn't so bitterly cold, and people were out. It seemed everyone was cheerful and busy. The men and women of Velas hurried out of their house to fix what they could while the weather held up, and Hella... Hella was bored. There hadn't been any adventure postings in what felt like months, she was running low on coin, and there wasn't much variety in the way of food...even the alehouse had starkly informed her that they were out of ale till further notice. It was on that day that she found herself wandering towards Hadrian's house, where she could see Rosanna hanging linens out to dry, and Benjamin sitting in the mood. 

She waved to Rosanna, and rounded the house where her friend was kneeling in muddy soil, sticking his fingers in the earth and shoving in what looked like tiny sprouts.

  
"What are you doing?" She asked as she neared him, looking down with a half smile on her face. Even if Ordenna had had "men of the cloth", they certainly wouldn't have been getting their hands full of mud. She wasn't sure which was more dignified.

Hadrian looked up and grinned. "Planting tomatoes. If you put them closer to the stables the heat keeps them alive through the frost." 

Hella snorted and leaned down to help. They finished quickly, and sat down on the half wall outside the garden, taking in the sun.

"I didn't take you for a farmer." 

"We all have to help in the ways we can." Hadrian said with an easy, patient voice. "Besides...it's relaxing." 

Hella laughed for a moment and then stilled. 

"Hadrian." She said suddenly, uneasy. He didn't respond, and she looked away into the distant green mountains. "I don't know what I'm doing here."

Hadrian looked down at his ring for a quiet moment, deep in thought, and then shrugged.

"You're making the world better." He said easily.

Hella frowned, uncomfortable. "Why?" She would have winced at the petulant way her question sounded, if she had noticed it.

"Because you have to. Because there's no one else." Hadrian said, looking up at the sun until his vision became spotty and purple. "Because in spite of it all, Hella... You're here for a reason." 

Hella had remained silent that day and then quickly punched Hadrian in the arm, hard. 

Tonight, looking up at the sky, where Hella felt she could suddenly see crackles of purple amongst the stars, she tried hard to remember what she'd said back, but the thought wouldn't come. She pulled her sword closer to her, comforted by its weight. Privately, she thought that the real reason she was here... or rather, still here... was Hadrian. And for that, at least, she could be grateful.


End file.
